Chapter 3: The First Clue
Dear Reader, this chapter is a part of a novel being developed in real time. Thank you for joining Elyse and I on this journey. I hope you enjoy the story. ~CC
She makes her way down to the coyote trail and starts to head towards home, the tin and its contents jostling around in her bag. She’s not sure what to tell her parents, if anything. She might be in trouble for venturing out too far-they are always so upset when trespassers happen upon their property. No, she wont say anything. Not yet.
She passes her and Alex’s fallen tree, heads down the decline and follows the stream back to the dam. She wraps around the dam and loops around the back of the cluster of trees, there she pulls some blackberries off the vines along the edge and heads toward the house snacking on them.
When she walks in the house, her mother is busy making lunch and fortunately on the telephone chatting away, the long cord twisted at the middle like a vine dangling down. Her mother skillfully navigates the cord and the stove so it doesn’t come over the hot surface-something she’s well versed at. A cast iron skillet sizzling on the stove and Elyse can smell pork chops. A stack of plates and silverware sit on the counter, Elyse knows they are there waiting for her to set the table. Her dad will be home in a bit and ready to eat.
Elyse clears the table of the paper and mail, grabs a washcloth to wipe the table off and proceeds to set the table for 4 people. Luke is at Grandma’s, so Dad must be bringing someone from work. He does that sometimes.
After Elyse sets the table, her mother who is still on the phone points to her feet. Elyse looks down at her grubby toes and heads toward the bathroom, but walks by it to put her bag in her bedroom. She looks around. She wants to be able to look through the tin without her mother finding it first. She reaches under her bed for the tub of Barbie dolls. It’s pretty packed already making it a tight fit, but Elyse manages to get the tin in there, keeping it in the bag so it doesn’t get rust on her dolls.
She slips out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom. Sitting on the edge of the tub, she washes off her feet. Her toenails are still a little dirty, but that will have to wait. She pulls her stool over to the counter and steps up to see herself in the mirror. The wind did a number on her hair and sure enough, her ribbon is missing. She takes her dads bristled brown hairbrush out of the drawer and starts to brush her blonde hair smooth. This brush is her favorite because it doesn’t pull her hair the way her mother’s toothy brush does. After she brushes her hair, she takes a washcloth and wipes off her face, then washes her hands. Reaching in her mother’s drawer, she looks around for a ponytail holder. She’s not very good at getting these in right, so she takes dad’s brush and heads to the kitchen.
Her mother is still on the phone and Elyse can tall she’s talking to Grandma. Her mother turns toward her and Elyse holds out the brush and rubber band. Her mother takes them from her, Elyse turns around as her mother brushes her hair into a ponytail. When she’s done, her mother holds the brush over Elyse’s shoulder and Elyse takes the brush back to the bathroom.
Heading back to the kitchen, Elyse climbs up on a kitchen stool and proceeds to watch her mother cooking lunch. Her mother starts pulling out things from the fridge, cut cantaloupe, cottage cheese, BBQ sauce and begins to place them in front of Elyse. This is a silent dance done daily.
Elyse climbs down off the stool and begins to put everything on the table. She reaches for a bowl her mom set out and can smell the vinegar wafting off it, her dads marinated cucumbers. She carefully takes that to the table with both hands so she doesn’t spill it and smell like vinegar the rest of the day.
Soon her dad walks in the door with a gentleman behind him. Elyse can tell by the tone of her dad’s voice this guest her dad liked. He was joking and animated the way he can be when he’s comfortable with someone. Her dad heads straight for the bathroom indicating to the guest to follow without really saying much to her mom. Her mom quickly gets off the phone and pushes cups toward Elyse to fill with ice.
After the men wash their hands, they come into the quaint dining room. Her dad sits at the head of the table and motions for his guest to sit to his right. Elyse’s dad makes introductions and then starts talking about the food in a humble-brag kind of way. Elyse can see her mom smiling in the background-it’s not all the time he gives praise for her effort.
Other than pleasantries Elyse knows she really isn’t supposed to talk much so she busies herself with eating and listening. It’s amazing what a kid can learn by keeping quiet. Sometimes the adult conversations are boring and sometimes they can be fun, especially when Dad is in good spirits.
Elyse learns the dinner guest’s name is Bob, he’s about Dad’s age, gives the impression that he has a family, but is more interested in learning about the property and how it all came together.
Elyse’s parents are rather proud of all their hard work and she’s heard them tell the story many times. In the dining room there is even a collage of pictures showing before and after they developed it.
Elyse’s dad, George, grew up just a few miles away in the nearby town. As a kid, he used to hunt on this very property and gather berries. He grew up quite poor and so coming out here to forage wasn’t uncommon and over time, as he got to know the terrain, he decided that if he ever got the chance, he would buy the property.
About 15 years ago, he and Elyse’s mother, Ann, had already been married a few years. The owner of the property, knowing his desire to build there, sold George 8 acres. The property wasn’t nice. People used it as a dumping ground for old vehicles and appliances. So for the first 6 months, they worked to remove as much overgrowth and garbage. Which was a chore considering that a pile of overgrowth was often hiding a pile of garbage, but so it went. As they worked the property, George had a clear vision of an A-frame house with a pond.
After the first year, of getting everything cleaned up and cleared, Ann got pregnant with their first child. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise, because their timeline was moved up on the build since they currently lived in a very small trailer.
The vision of the A-frame house changed as well, due to budget and a traditional ranch was then brought to life, built completely by George.
When Luke was born, he was able to come home to a (mostly) finished home. And Ann and George were able to continue to work, a bit at a time making more progress and purchasing more acreage so a few years later when Elyse was born, they had 13 acres.
Elyse liked it when they mentioned her and her brother, Bob looked at her when her name was mentioned and she just smiled like a proud kid-playing the role of the good daughter. People always thought Elyse was charming and cute, partially because of her size and blonde hair. But she was a good little girl who really did try.
‘So all this was timber?’ Asked Bob.
‘Timber or brush,’ replied George.
‘I can’t believe no one thought to develop out here before.’
‘Well, people lived out here some, but never for very long. There used to be an orphanage a ways Southwest and Mrs. Nussbaum lived straight west of here until her house burned,’ George replied.
Elyse’s ears perked up. She knew about the burnt down house. The structure stood eerily at the T in the road on the way to the farther town of Dearing. But she never heard of the orphanage before.
‘Orphanage?’ Elyse asked out loud.
She caught her mother glance quickly at her father, ‘Mm-hm,’ he grunted, indicating to drop it.
Darn, Elyse thought. Not the time. But now at least she knows what that structure was. Maybe the tin will offer more clues.
After lunch was over, Elyse helped her mother clean up and then her mother told her they were going to run errands in town. Elyse changed and for the rest of the afternoon, she was busy with her mother and the thought of rusty tins and orphanages for a time forgotten.
That is until the next day.
